To Perry Tyndall, being the head basketball coach at his high school alma mater is his dream job.

Tyndall, who played for Kinston High School and was later the lead assistant to former coach Wells Gulledge for several years, will be coaching the final game of his second season as head coach in Saturday’s NCHSAA 2A state title game in Raleigh. The championship game against North Rowan begins at 2:30 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of N.C. State University.

Tyndall’s team enters Saturday’s game with a 25-5 record this season. Combined with last year’s 28-2 mark, he has a 53-7 career record as a varsity head coach. But it’s not just wins and losses that define Tyndall.

“He’s a fine young man who represents all the good things about Kinston,” said Hall of Fame coach George Whitfield, a Kinston native who graduated from Grainger High School. “Kinston is lucky to have someone like him.”

The only time in his life Tyndall has been outside of Kinston was when he attended UNC Chapel Hill.

“To grow up in Kinston, I love the place with all my heart,” Tyndall said. “I spent four years away in college; to be able to come back, it’s truly a blessing from the Lord to be in the situation that I’m in. I didn’t know what in the world I wanted to do when I graduated from college; I hadn’t thought about teaching or coaching.

“It’s cliche, but God opens doors that you don’t even see sometimes. To be here, just pinch me because it’s unbelievable.”

Tyndall said he appreciates the support the Kinston community has shown him and his team.

“You look up in the stands and you see them packed,” Tyndall said. “There is a lot of support and it is much appreciated by all of us.”

Tyndall has seen Kinston fans pack North Carolina gyms and arenas from the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill to Reynolds Coliseum and Raleigh’s venerable Broughton Gymnasium for the annual HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational.

He expects there to be a loud and supportive crowd at Saturday’s game, too.

“There’s no doubt Kinston is going to be there,” Tyndall said with a large smile. “We know that they are behind us and we’ll have a good, good crowd. We’re going to give them something to cheer about.”

Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCHanks.